How do you combine data for better writing and communication?
Learn from the community’s knowledge. Experts are adding insights into this AI-powered collaborative article, and you could too.
This is a new type of article that we started with the help of AI, and experts are taking it forward by sharing their thoughts directly into each section.
If you’d like to contribute, request an invite by liking or reacting to this article. Learn more
— The LinkedIn Team
Data is everywhere, and it can help you write and communicate more effectively, if you know how to combine it. In this article, you will learn some practical tips on how to use data to support your arguments, engage your audience, and improve your style. Whether you are writing an essay, a report, a blog post, or a presentation, you can benefit from using data to enhance your analytical skills.
What is data?
Data is any information that can be measured, collected, and analyzed. Data can be quantitative (numbers, statistics, graphs) or qualitative (words, images, opinions). Data can come from various sources, such as surveys, experiments, interviews, observations, or online platforms. Data can help you answer questions, solve problems, or make decisions.
-
Data is just data until you have the ability to weave a narrative out of that. The art of data storytelling is the most important skill, in my view.
Why combine data?
Combining data is a great way to support your writing and communication goals, as it can help you strengthen your arguments with evidence and examples, engage your audience by demonstrating relevance and interest, and improve your style with variety and clarity.
-
Combining data serves to enrich insights and bolster understanding. By amalgamating diverse information sources, we unlock patterns, correlations, and context that individual datasets might not reveal. This synergy empowers us to form comprehensive perspectives, make informed decisions, and communicate with depth and authority. In essence, data fusion magnifies our ability to extract valuable meaning from information and drive impactful actions.
How to combine data?
Combining data for better writing and communication requires three main steps. First, you need to find data that is relevant, reliable, and valid. Then, you must analyze the data to extract insights and patterns. Finally, you need to present the data in a clear and compelling way. Doing so will help you communicate more effectively.
-
In our digital realm, merging data and communication wields remarkable influence. Master this fusion for captivating content. Here's the concise roadmap: 1. Select Strategic Data: Choose reliable, aligned data sources for credibility. 2. Analyze for Insights: Unearth patterns and trends, using visuals for clarity. 3. Craft Compelling Narrative: Sequence logically, use visuals, simplify language to appeal to everyone in the room. Elevate your reach through this data-driven communication recipe.
Find data
In order to find data, you need to have some research skills and critical thinking. Begin by defining your purpose and audience, followed by identifying key questions and keywords. Then, search for data sources that are credible, current, and comprehensive. After that, evaluate the quality and accuracy of the data and organize and store it for easy access.
-
Here's a general approach to finding data: 1. Define Your Data Needs 2. Start With Search Engines 3. Public Data Repositories: Popular ones include: • Kaggle • The UCI Machine Learning Repository • Google Dataset Search • data.gov: US government's free data. • The EU Open Data Portal contains data from EU institutions and authorities. 4. Academic Databases 5. Specialized Industry Data 6. Purchase or License Data 7. APIs 8. Surveys and Original Data Collection 9. Networking 10. Respect Data Privacy and Licensing Once you've found your data, it's essential to clean and preprocess it, ensuring it's accurate, reliable, and suitable for your purposes.
Analyze data
To analyze data effectively, you need to review it for trends, gaps, outliers, or relationships, interpret what it means and why it matters, synthesize the data to connect it to your main points and arguments, and visualize the data in the best format (e.g., tables, charts, maps). This requires analytical skills and creativity.
-
Here's a way to get started with analysing your data. 🧠 Know Your Data: Grasp its structure and context. 🎯 Set Objectives: Define what you're seeking. 📈 Pick Methods: Choose analysis techniques. ⏳ Time Trends: Spot patterns over time. 🔄 Compare Insights: Find connections in variables. 📊 Visualize: Craft impactful visuals. 🔍 Seek Patterns: Dig for hidden correlations. 🕵️♂️ Check Outliers: Investigate anomalies. 🧭 Draw Conclusions: Interpret results. 💡 Apply Findings: Real-world relevance.
Present data
Presenting data requires some writing and communication skills and attention to detail. You should integrate the data into your text or speech using transitions, citations, and references, as well as highlight it with headings, captions, labels, or colors. Additionally, simplify the data using summaries, comparisons, or contrasts, and emphasize it with stories, anecdotes, or quotes. Lastly, check the data for errors, consistency, and readability.
-
People can only hold a few numbers in their memory at a time, so I need to use a lot of numbers, this is what I do: - Check which numbers can be replaced with everyday reference amounts, such as ‘a quarter’; - Identify the number that the audience is likely to find striking or unexpected, and give it ‘white space’, using paragraph breaks and making sure it is not drowning among other numbers; - Trim and crop all distracting information.
Here’s what else to consider
This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?
-
As we collect vast amounts of complex data, it is essential to invest in effective data management strategies to harness its true value. Approximately 90% of all data is replicated, and the volume of data is expected to double by 2025, making it key to focus on generating better data and using it effectively for productization. Productizing data can create value and generate new revenue streams by transforming raw data into a product that offers insights, predictions, or recommendations. We can benefit from data-driven software services such as customer behavior analytics and predictive analytics platforms, but collaboration between data scientists, business analysts, and stakeholders is required to ensure the product meets everyone's needs